What's Next
by DeeDee0202
Summary: Just after S4E8 'Too Far Gone' and Beth and Daryl are on the run. What's next for them ...


'Come on…...' Daryl urged Beth again thought gritted teeth. He was leading her thought the dense brushes, he looked back over his shoulder to make sure she was keeping up. She was exhausted he knew that, he could see that. But they need to keep moving, they need to find a safe place to hold up, somewhere that gave him an advantage.

'Daryl! Please I need to catch my breath...' Beth called to him. He stopped, but she could tell he was not going to let her rest long.

'Just a minute, then.' he replied sternly, but he did not sit down like she did, and she knew why.

Three of The Governor's men had been tracking them since the prison, for some reason they were out to get Daryl. They went on about Daryl having killed one of these men's brother or cousin, back when they had attacked the prison. She was not really all that sure of the details and neither was Daryl. With everything that had happen at the prison it was quite possible that even these men did not truly know the details of how the man had died, but they now blame Daryl.

Daryl had at one point done his best to reason with them, but they were not the reasonable people he had hoped them to be, and the details they had relayed back to him of what they had planned for him and Beth, or as they had but it 'Your little tramp' just enraged Daryl even more.

They did know one thing about these men though, none of them were as good a shot as Daryl, but Daryl and Beth now had very little ammo left. They would have to make every shot count, and that is why Daryl is pushing her on, they need an advantage, a place to be able to hide out in, to sit it out and wait for these men to approach them, and then hopefully come out of it in one piece.

She sat with her head in her hands and could not help but think of how tired and hungry she was, and she knew he was too. Not that he'd show it. Beth had made him promise that he would do the right thing by her and deal with her before he let them do the things they had said they wanted to do to her. He didn't want anything to do with it, but in the end he agreed, even if it was just to get her to shut up for a while.

What Beth didn't know was that Daryl had been happy for her to be distracted by what these men had said. It meant that it had taken her mind away from what Daryl was concerned about the most. What was going to happen when she finally had the chance to stop and think about her father, Hershel. Daryl would not be able to handle a mental melt down like the one she had had back on the farm. Yes, she was a different person now, stronger and more independent. But Hershel was her father and had no reason to die as he did at the hands for that man. What had happened to Hershel was bothering him, so he could only imagine how she was going to handle it all, when it finally catches up with her. He was not cut out for dealing those sort of emotions, even his own.

If they could just find somewhere safe, she could take as long as she needed. But then the chance of them ever having something close to what they had back at the prison was unlikely. It had been a dream for them there, and to think they could ever have held onto anything like that in a world that had gone to hell was just stupid. He was angry at himself for believing in that too.

'Come on...' he urged her. Stepping up to her and grabbing her elbow, helping her to her feet, annoyed by his thoughts. Annoyed at his emotions. Why did he let her stop?

'This way...' he pointed her into the brush ahead and started to let her lead the way, but she was moved too slowly for Daryl and he stepped around her urging her to pick up her pace. It was just a moment later when he stopped dead in his tracks, Beth stepping up close behind him. He had heard something she hadn't.

'What is ...' she started to ask

'Shhhhhhh.' he hissed.

That's when she heard it. It was a dog, or more likely a wolf and it sounded like it was angry.

'No...NO...' they heard a man cry out in pain, as they heard what could have only been the animal attack. Not a second later a single gunshot echo through the woods.

Then total silence. No sound of the wolf or of the man. Daryl and Beth stood frozen in silence. That could mean so many things for then, too many for them to worry about now.

'Be good if the wolf won.' Daryl stated, breaking the silence. He turned back to look Beth

'But the gun shot could mean...' Beth couldn't finish what she was about to say, but she knew Daryl would understood as he nodded his head. What if the man had shot the wolf?

'We need to keep moving.' he urged her, again

They had not gone more than another five or ten minutes before they stepped out of the woods and into a clearing. Daryl kept is calm, when Beth couldn't.

'A barn!' she exclaimed happily, lunging eagerly into the open before Daryl quickly grabbed her arm stopping her.

'Do I need to remind you about the last barn?' he asked hesitantly. He was of cause recalling her family's farm and the barn that housed so many Walkers, before Shane had opened the door and made the group put them all down.

Beth stepped back beside Daryl. She knew he had instincts she would never process. He looked over what lay before them. It was an open plain, cleared of everything. Roughly about ten acres, with nothing more than a large barn smack bang within its centre. No trees, no bushes. Just long, waist high grass that swayed in the breeze, and what Daryl thought might have once been a house, now nothing more than black ash and rubble.

It just seemed too good. The barns position would give them the total advantage of being able to see everything within the surrounding field, with a loft that would be somewhere safe and high for them to rest. Daryl started to cautiously move forward. Beth was right on his heels. She was almost too close if anything happens and they had to move quickly.

They had gone no more maybe six meters into the field when Daryl thought he heard something. He lifted his cross bow, and waited a moment before moving on. He had only gone two steps further when he heard it again. It was not the sort of noises he had expected to hear out here, it was like a static Clicking.

'Do you hear that?' he whispered to Beth glancing back over his shoulder to look at her. What he saw shocked him to the point he could not breathe. Right in the middle of Beth's forehead was a red dot. Without taking his eyes off Beth and without hesitation or a second thought he raised both his hands in the air, his trigger finger clearly off the crossbow's trigger.

'What are you doing?' Beth asked her voice strained with fear for she already knew what his actions meant. Daryl's free hand remained in the air, as the hand with the crossbow slowly lowered, until it was safe to drop it to the ground before raising that hand again.

'Daryl? What... What are you doing?' Beth asked again, her voice shacking almost as much as she was.

'Beth,' Daryl said quietly

'Slowly, drop your gun.' he instructed

'Why?' she asked, but did as he instructed anyway.

Daryl edged his hand towards her face until the red dot rested on the back of his hand instead of her forehead, as he drew his hand back the red dot moved with it. He moved his hand so Beth could see the red dot too.

She gasped, putting her hand over her mouth to silence herself. Daryl turned his attention towards were he thought the line of fire was coming from, but could see nothing. No one was visible. Whoever this was, they were very well concealed. The fact they moved their line of fire with Daryl's hand, made Daryl hopeful, because they could have just shot them dead already.

Again, Daryl heard that Click! Click! This time he could clearly make out, because now it was louder. It was now right behind him, and as he turned his head he glanced at Beth and the fear in her eyes confirmed it. He had been so worried about Beth being shot at and where that shouter was, that he had total lost his focus and let his guard down. He had not noticing what had now approached him from behind. Now he was unarmed. His brief moment of hope dashed yet again.

Daryl started to turn, dreading the worst, walker's maybe. The first thing he saw was the dog. A tan coloured Staffordshire bull terrier, its body and muscles tense, ready to attach. Its muzzle and teeth already stained with blood. Its lips retracted, baring its teeth, but not a sound could be heard. Its ears lay down flat to its head. Its dark round eye fixed on Daryl, waiting.

'Noooooooooo...' Beth screamed. At first Daryl didn't even know what happened, he had thought the dog might have attacked, but then he realized he had in fact felt something struck his head, hard. Just a split second later the pain blinded him and he dropped his head to his hands. He was dazed for a moment and as he gathered his wits he came to realise he was already on the ground, and someone had him by the neck of his shirt. Someone pushed him flat to the ground and knelt over him, their legs either side of him, taking full advantage of his dazed state. A fist connected with his face. His fate, Beth's fate could be judged by how he reacts now.

The dog was jumping around them, snarling and growling, snapping its teeth as it barked at them.

'Please! No!' Beth's fearful voice buzzed in his ears, totally dazed he could make out very little of his attacker. The sun blazing around their shape, their details blacked out by the glare of the sun behind them, it was so hard to make anything out. His eyes were unable to gain back any focus. His head was pounding and throbbing with pain.

However before the third blow could come, and Daryl could see it coming as his attacker draw their arm back again, but he was unable to do anything more than raise his arms the shield himself from the blow. The dog saw its chance and stepped up between him and this attacker.

'Arrr Raaaaaa Raaaa Ra' the dog rambled as if speaking with the attacker as it sat down beside Daryl, and them shuffled even a little closer to get between Daryl as his attacker, looking back at Daryl almost affectionately before looking back at the attacker.

'YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!' the attacker spat back at the dog as they giving Daryl one last hard shove with the arm that held onto the scarf of Daryl's shirt, before stand up over Daryl. It was only then that Daryl realised that his attacker as a women.

The dog turned and licked Daryl's face before looking back up at the woman again. The dog edged closer still to Daryl, leaning onto he chest now, as Daryl had now raised himself up onto his elbow. Clearly the dog liked Daryl.

Daryl heard that Click! Click! Again as the women raised her hand towards the barn and Daryl notice the red dot disappear from Beth temple as she stood there frozen in fear. Daryl looked to the barn's open loft door and watched a young man, no older than Beth rise from the ground and shake same hay from himself and his rifle's barrel.

The women took a couple of steps away from Daryl, but still continued eyeing Daryl and the dog curiously.

'Really?' she asked, her hands explaining what could have only been confusion. The dog whimpered a little, shifting its feet onto Daryl's lap, leaning even closer to Daryl. Daryl was now a little more confused himself. Not to mention concerned about this women's sanity.

The woman just shook her head slightly in obvious disbelief before removing her straw styled cowboy hat, wiped her brow and putting her hat back on, tipping the brim low over her eyes as she did. Silently she looked Daryl over before eyeing Beth and their weapons as well. She nudged Daryl's crossbow a little further out of his reach with her foot but gentle enough not to do it any damage as well as cautions enough not to set it off, as Daryl had lowered it like that just in case he did have a slim chance of using it.

Daryl's eyes had finally managed to start focusing again and he raised his hand to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun. The women was not that much younger than he was. She wore blue jeans, tight blue jeans, Dr Marten boots and a checked shirt that was missing a few buttons. She was well armed.

Strapped to each leg was a large sheath that held a machete in each one. A pistol was saddled in its holster under her left arm. A rifle slung over her shoulder, and a small blade could just be seen in its sheath around her ankle.

If she had not just hit him he might have been happy to admit to that he thought that she was most definitely an extremely attractive woman. But for now he was still pissed she had got the upper hand like she had.

'What do you want?' she asked and for the first time Daryl noticed she had a husky voice with an accent he did not yet recognise.

'We had a group that lived at the prison….Someone else wanted it….There was a fight' Beth stated to ramble on.

The women raised her hand to silence Beth, and Beth stopped as soon as she did so. Beth looked to Daryl. Beth did not understand what this woman wanted her to say.

'What are you doing HERE?' she asked again, dramatically pointing with both hands to where she now stood.

'We just need somewhere safe to stay.' Beth replied quietly

'So...?' the women started to say

'What make you think your welcome here?' she spat at Beth. Daryl noticed just how much this women as intimidating Beth, which pissed him off even more. Beth did not deserve to be treated like this. Daryl stood up slowly, noticing out of the corner of his eye the young man raise his riffle again. Daryl did not doubt that the red light was now most defiantly on his temple.

'We did not assume we were welcome here at all, we just come out of the woods here,' he gestured to the bush land they had come out from.

'And thought we'd take a look and see if it was safe.' Daryl informed her

'Well you're not.' she told him, her hand on her hips

'What?' Daryl ask, know full well what she meant

'You are not welcome here!' she expressing her thoughts clearly.

'Not sure we'd want to stay.' he mumbled quietly

'Fuck off then.' she explicitly stated and started to walk towards the barn, taking a few steps past them, deliberately nudging Daryl with her shoulder as she passed

'Please.' Beth pleaded as she passed by her, but the women paid her no attention.

'We need your help.' Beth pleaded, taking a step closer to the women, her reaction was to reach out to grab the women's arm, but though twice about it at the last moment pulling her hand back quickly. Daryl took a step away, back towards the bushes and an unsafe future. The women stop, and so did Daryl. She looked up at the barn then back at the dog.

'Come on.' she patted her thigh as she called the dog. The dog looked at her, then at Daryl and Beth, then back at her, but did not move. The women turned back to face the dog. She stared into the dog big round eye, the dog dropped his head, almost bashfully then lay on the ground as if to tell her he was going nowhere, but he continued to stared back at her with those big round puppy dog eyes.

Daryl thought he saw a hint on a smile on her lips from underneath the brim of her hat as she looked at the dog, before speaking again

'Who are the men in the wood?' she asked with a sigh. The tone in her voice had change dramatically, and it made her sound as if she could almost be kind. She pushed the brim of her hat up a higher and for the first time truly looked at Beth

'Are they with you?' she added

'No' Beth sound shocked as she shook her head

'They were with the people that attached the prison.' Daryl told her

'How many of them are there?' she asked looking Daryl in the eye for the first time. He noticed she had beautiful brown eye and long lashes, as she stared into his eyes.

'Th...Three.' surprised, Daryl had to clear his throat for some reason

Daryl flinched as she reached behind her back. Daryl held his breath for what she might draw out but was hugely received when he say she only had a walkie-talkie.

Daryl noticed the women smile again. Beth had not noticed his flinch, but it had not gone unnoticed by women.

She clicked down on the call button of the walkie-talkie twice. As she did Daryl heard the faint static clicking they hearing before come from the barn. Daryl saw that the young man in the was now holding up his own walkie-talkie. Daryl knew that the clicking noise he had been hearing was now they were signalling too each other.

'Yeah.' crackled back through the walkie-talkie, and Daryl watched as the young man spoke into his walkie-talkie. As the boy spoke the women, she bent down and picked up Daryl's crossbow

'We need to go hunt one more.' she spoke into the receiver

'We need more loaded weapons. You stay and keep an eye on things here.' she instructed

The boy disappeared from view, obviously to do as instructed.

'You up to dealing with the guy that's still out there chasing you?' she asked Daryl as she handed back his crossbow

'Guy's. These three of them.' happy to correct her, still annoyed she'd go the drop on him. Not to mention having smacked him a couple of times.

'No, now there is just one. We've dealt with the other two.' she shrugged her head towards the dog, who stood up wagging his tail as if he'd done something to be proud of.

'Dealt with? What do you mean?' Daryl asked

'Sorry, did you want them to hunt you two down?' she ask, that cynical tone creeping back into the tone of voice

'Or you just pissed with me?' looking him in the eye

'Definitely!' Daryl agreed

'I'm definitely still pissed with you.' Daryl nodded his head just slightly, as he continued to agree with her. She could not help but smiled back at him. Daryl could not help but notice that when she smiled she was even more beautiful.

The barn doors opened and a young girl no older the fifteen walked out, she looked to be loaded down this quite a few guns, two rifles and a box of ammo, but she did not walk in a straight line towards then. She looked to stagger this way and that, as she made her way towards them.

Beth, like Daryl thought the young girl needed a hand and as Beth made a start towards the young girl, the women grabbed her jerking her backwards.

Daryl instantly raised his crossbow at the women as she pushed Beth back and the dog growled but again the women just smiled

'You need to be very careful.' she told them as she bent the long grass back with her foot, just where Beth was about to step, she exposing long metal spears hidden from their sight.

'The boy.' she jerked her head towards the boy in the barn, standing back there he was before, with his rifle in his hands

'He likes his booby traps. You can't walk a straight line to the barn without the possibility of killing yourself. Or at least impaling yourself' she told them with what sounded like pride in her voice.

Daryl stepped a little closer to where he had just been lying on the ground and notice another spike only inches away from where his head had been just minutes before. As he looked a little harder he could see even more. As the breeze blew the long grass it bent differently in the areas with the traps set in it. The harder he looked the more he saw. Barn was surrounded with them.

'Keeps the zombies out.' she told them as she watched Daryl eyeing one trap after another.

'Walkers' Daryl corrected her.

'Potato. Potahto' she smiled

'Tomato. Tomahto.' she added, like she was baiting him for an argument.

'Walkers' Daryl stressed, obviously not amused with her at all. Although he did notice Beth smiled

'Candy coat it any way you like. Their monsters, and we're reasonable safe here.' she informed them as the young girl finally made it up to them. The women took a couple of guns from the girl and Daryl was surprised that she handed one straight too him,

'You don't need it?' she asked as he just stood there looking at her. He was totally surprised by her actions. Reluctantly he took it and she started to reload the gun she had in a holster. Then doing the same with the rifles.

'Hi, I'm Kelly.' the young girl smiled at both Beth and Daryl, handing extra ammo to the women who then loaded up her pockets until they were full and tossed any extra ammo to Daryl

'I'm Beth,' Beth was surprised by the contrast of personality's between the women and the girl. It was very obvious that this girl had to be her daughter. They had the same coloured hair, same shaped noses and the same smiles. All except Kelly's eyes, she had blue eyes.

'And...and this is Daryl' Beth added gesturing to Daryl. Daryl could tell Beth was trying to hide her excitement. How could she accept that things had just changed so fast? Just moment before the women had been happy to kill them both. Bi polar maybe, schizophrenic had also crossed Daryl's mind as well.

'You can take Beth back to the barn. Old mate here,' the women nodded at Daryl, as she slung a rifle over her shoulder and checking all her weapons were in place.

'J and I will go find this other guy, so we can all sleep tonight.' she continued

'Are you hungry? I can cook you up something?' Kelly asked Beth

'I'll make you some too, Daryl. Just hurry back so it doesn't get too cold.' she added cheerfully

'Thanks.' Daryl replied honestly not too sure what was going on, and how he felt about it.

The women started to head back into the wood close to where he and Beth had come out through. The dog bounced around her. Then he ran up to Daryl, and then back to the women. Stopping to bark playfully at Daryl

'We call him J,' Kelly smiled at Daryl as she started to lead Beth back thought the maze of spikes and spears to the safety of the barn.

'He likes you.' she added over her shoulder

'Is that a good thing?' Daryl asked

'Yes. He just saved your lives.' she informed him over her shoulder, Beth staying close on Kelly's heels, as she gave Daryl a quick glance back over her shoulder and a small waved goodbye. She gave Daryl the impression she was happy with these new arrangements, but then Beth always warmed to strangers much faster than he does.


End file.
